Something Funny Going On Here…
With everything going on in the world these days, we could all certainly use a laugh… and we were pleased to find out that Kurt Luchs is funny. Luchs, the GM of the NRG Media cluster in Wausau-Stevens Point, WI is releasing a humor book, the awesomely titled It’s Funny Until Someone Loses an Eye (Then It’s Really Funny). The book, which will be available on Nov. 1 via Sagging Meniscus Press, is the convenient repository of some 50 humor pieces that have been published in The New Yorker, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Slate, Kugelmass and Luchs’ own literary humor site, TheBigJewel.com.
You should be aware that Luchs didn’t suddenly become humor-enabled this year — he actually has a long and illustrious comedy resume — he started contributing to The Onion back in 1996, and his work has been published in many of The Onion‘s books, including the classic Our Dumb Century, which won the Thurber Prize for humor. He also worked as a television comedy writer back in the day for Bill Maher on Politically Incorrect and for Craig Kilborn at The Late Late Show.
Luchs (left) actually broke into the radio business as a comedy writer, first for The Complete Sheet, and then for the American Comedy Network, which he soon began running, thus, sending him down the lucrative path of radio management. He’s been running NRG’s Wausau-Stevens Point stations since May 2013. So, how does NRG upper management feel about Luchs’ literary moonlighting? “They’re very supportive,” he says. “They believe in work-life balance, and they want their people to be personally fulfilled. That’s one of the things that makes it such a great place to work. Plus, they know that all this comedy background is very useful in managing the content and presentation on our morning shows. In radio, being creative kind of comes with the territory.” It’s Funny Until Someone Loses an Eye can be preordered at Amazon.com.
